Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 90164 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 451(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90164 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 451(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
“Oh, it’s okay. I need the exercise anyway. Let’s just put the bags on the sidewalk, and I’ll make trips.”
Peter seems nice, but I know better than to let strangers into my house.
“Whatever you want,” he says with a shrug and helps me get the groceries unloaded. I remember to grab my purse and the few personal things I have in the vehicle before Peter drives off, headed for the garage.
“Great,” I mutter as I load up more bags than I should and head for the stairs leading up to my place. “Another expense. I hope this doesn’t cost me an arm and a leg because I can barely make all the bills I have as it is.”
After three trips, everything is upstairs, and I’m winded.
So, I lean on the counter and catch my breath.
“Okay, so I do need to work out more.” I peel my sweater off and get to work putting my things away. Just when I close the cabinet door to what I’ve made the pantry, my phone rings.
“Hello?”
“Is this Erin Montgomery?”
“Yes, this is she.”
“Hey there. I’m Brooks, down at the garage you had your car towed to, and I’ve had a look through your car.”
“Wow, that was fast.”
“Yeah, well, it wasn’t hard to find. Are you sitting down?”
I blink and frown. “Should I be?”
“I would advise it, yeah.”
Grimly, I drop down to the edge of my couch. “Okay, hit me with it.”
“Well, it looks like you had a complete computer failure, which is honestly something I’ve never seen. Not to this extent, anyway.”
“Great.” I close my eyes and take a deep breath. “How much will this cost?”
He blows out a breath. “It’s going to be a couple grand, at least. I’m still diagnosing other things, but yeah, a few thousand. I can have a more complete estimate for you by tomorrow, but I don’t want to mislead you. You’re looking at a lot of money here.”
Of course, I am.
“Is it worth fixing?”
“I guess that’s up to you, isn’t it? If it were my car, I would probably fix it, yeah. But, if it were my wife’s car, I don’t know that I would trust it again. You could sell it for parts and buy another car.”
Sure, if I had the money for a car payment.
“Okay, I’m going to think about that.”
“I’ll be in touch tomorrow with a more accurate estimate. Sorry for the bad news.”
“Yeah, thanks.”
I hang up and set my phone aside, rubbing my hands over my face. I do not want to use my dad’s money.
But I need a reliable car. The weather is too flaky here to depend on being able to walk.
I’ll just have to pick up a second job and make what I have stretch.
“Shit, it’s cold.” I rush into the coffee shop the next morning, rubbing my gloved hands together. “So, so cold.”
“Did you walk here?” Millie asks with a frown. “For the love of Old Man Winter, Erin, you can’t be walking around in that.”
I glance back and see that the snow is falling sideways, thanks to the wind.
“I had to,” I reply simply and hurry back to change out of my coat and boots and pull on an apron for work. When I return, Millie is slammed with customers, so I immediately jump in to help.
We stay busy through the lunchtime rush, and we switch back and forth between taking orders and filling them.
Finally, when there’s a break, we both take a breath and survey the mess around us.
“Whoa.” I blink at the crumbs, spilled coffee drips, and other debris on the tile floor. “It looks like there was a battle.”
“There was,” she says. “And we won. Good job.”
Just as I’m grinning at Millie, the door opens, and in walks a group of guys. Millie stiffens next to me.
“The asshole tourists,” she hisses, and I feel my eyes narrow into slits.
“I’ve got this,” I assure her.
“We’ve got this,” she replies as the leader of the group—sporting a bright black-and-blue eye—steps up. “How can we help you?”
“Shit, it’s you,” he sneers.
“Yep, it’s me. Now, we can work this one of two ways. Either you and your friends can be nice, or you can go.”
“Me? I’m always nice,” he replies and blatantly looks Millie up and down in the creepiest way ever, then turns his gaze to me. “Now, you’re hot. And not as mouthy.”
I raise an eyebrow before I start laughing. I laugh so hard I have to hold my stomach. “Mouthy? Oh, honey, you have no idea just how mouthy I can be.”
“Let’s just go, man.” One of the guys standing in the back taps the asshole leader on the shoulder. “We can get coffee somewhere else.”
“Fuck that. Now it’s the principal of it. What is it with the bitches in this town being little cunts?”
Without saying a word, I pull my phone out of my back pocket and dial 9-1-1.